Introduction
Jews have lived in Syria for over 3,000 years. Most lived in one of the two main centers along the caravan routes, Damascus or Aleppo
(Aleppo is also known as
Aram Soba or, in Arabic,
Haleb). As is typical of other regions of the Ottoman Empire, Aleppo had no
official birth, marriage, or death records. Some records were kept by various rabbis and a few of these have survived and are
located either in manuscript or on microfiche in the National Library of Israel (NLI) in Jerusalem. To examine these records,
please visit or contact:
The database includes 1,354 records (over 5,000 names) from the transcription of Register 43741 and marriage contracts (ketubot) that are
part of NLI databases. The Aleppo Marriage Database covers several periods and there are major gaps in the information. For the
most part, the data covers 1847-1850, 1868-1877, and 1893-1934. However, we included a few records found in 1811and 1855 that were
derived from Ketubot manuscripts.
Transliteration
These records have been translated and transliterated as part of the Sephardic Heritage Project, with donations from members of
Brooklyn's Syrian Community, under the supervision of Sarina Roffé (Brooklyn, NY). The original records were written in a Hebrew
Rashi special Aleppoan script as well as Judeo-Arabic. They were translated to Modern Hebrew by Rabbi Abraham Ades of Bnei Brak,
Israel. Then under the supervision of Galit Mizrahi (Jerusalem, Israel), the records were translated into English and converted
into a database. Then they were edited by Sarina Roffé. Since the records have been through so many versions, it is possible that
we made mistakes. Original versions of these records can be accessed in the sources provided in Israel.
The records are from the following sources.
- The collection of Prof. Meir Benayahu. We thank Prof. Benayahu for his kind permission to copy, translate, and make searchable on
the web the Aleppo marriage records marked in the search results as "National Library and Benayahu Library, 43737-43739."
- Ketubot manuscript 57255
- Register 43741 of the Aleppo Community.
- List of Marriage Records in Jerusalem.
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